Do the presidential candidates win and lose votes in the big TV debates? Does the Pope wear a ball gown? Sure! And the three of them do what they do for the same three reasons: Image. Image. Image.

The words image and imagine are related, of course. Well, imagine the Pope in shorts and flip-flops? Doesn’t work, does it? That is because the visual aspect is so vital to image. (If you Google enough you will find a photo of John Wayne in short shorts and feminine slippers. His fans find it downright disturbing. A Yankee could be batting .600. But if he wears pink shoes tonight he’ll be benched. A guy’s shoes have nothing to do with baseball, movies and Mother Church. But, then, they have everything to do with them.)

The debates, of course, serve up a number of ingredients. You will select those you want to build images of these men in your mind. Or to re-enforce the images you already have.

After the debates the experts will analyze what the candidates said. This guy overlooked this. He stressed this. He didn’t answer this. Blah. Blah.

I say blah blah because next morning you won’t remember what these guys said. But you will remember the impressions they made. You will remember the images they created. With their words. With the timbre of their voices. With their grooming. With their gestures, their laughs, their frowns, their shrugs, their darting eyes.